The invention relates to the field of product packaging and in particular to the printing of sound generating files on product packaging and containers. Audible recorded messages can be printed on product labels and packages through the use of inks. The raised grooves printed in this manner will produce audible sounds when a fingernail or tool is traced over them. Packages and containers with the printed files will vibrate and amplify the voices and sounds produced.
By a xe2x80x9cvoice printed layer;xe2x80x9d it is meant a suitable means for transferring reproducible voice recording to packaging by use of a single printed sound layer. However, to produce such recorded sound a combination of layers may need to be applied in a sequence that produces voice recorded messages when such a surface is traced with a tool. During standard graphics printing in the packaging industry, several colors are applied to paperboard products or plastic labeling to produce attractive package graphics. Those graphics are intended to stimulate optic nerves of consumers by use of colors which are applied to the packages surface for a more appealing visual effect and text.
In this invention, printed voice recordings will allow voice reproduction to be applied to the surface of packaging in order to create series of very fine, raised sound grooves. Short voice recordings can be traced with hand movement to produce audible sound messages which will stimulate the sense of hearing. This sound message is intended to be applied by use of printed inks and coatings that have been modified for this purpose with desirable properties which make the printing of these sound files possible.
By xe2x80x9csound filesxe2x80x9d it is meant those patterns of sound grooves, similar to auditory spectrograms having a series of grooves rather than a single spiral grooves as in a conventional disk record. The sound recording grooves comprise a series of lines, similar to bar coding. Such grooves are usually parallel or nearly parallel to one another and sometimes they meet at angles to form a continuous line. These sound grooves vary in depth, width, height and angle and in some cases, as between audible words or syllables, it may appear that those sound grooves may be entirely absent or their size and depth greatly reduced.
Such a voice producing layer is intended to be applied over top of graphic artwork and colors as a series of fine clear lines. However, such sound files may be applied in any color to packaging in order to have a visual disturbing affect o the packaging graphics. By containers and packages it is meant that such voice layers may be printed directly onto pressurized and non pressurized containers, as well as conventional labels which are added to containers such as bottles as well as directly over paperboard and corrugated board used to construct containers. However, this sound layer could be added as a final step to containers after they have been filled with products.
Sound producing grooves have been used on packaging through the use of fine micro grooves which have been pressed into plastics and plastic films by use of heat and pressure. Those sound producing grooves can be produced with use of a heated platen press which applies a great deal of heat and pressure to force the grooved die or dies together similar to that process used in record manufacturing.
Examples of such prior art sound groove producing processes include: U.S. Pat. No. 2,060,287 to Dofsen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,803 by Kinze and Wilton and U.S. Pat. No. 3,269,734 to Ottofy.
It is thought that such prior art devices have severe limitations which prohibit the use of those sound producing strips in advertising today. Prior art sound producing strips have to undergo many individual processes before they can be attached or laminated to the packages in the final step. Slitting for example requires the plastic material in the form of sheets to be cut into strips to be run through pressing dies where grooves can be applied to such strips. Also, adhesives must be applied in order to adhere sound producing components to the package which is to be made to produce the audio sounds, such as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,269,734.
Other concerns, include the lamination process used to adhere plastic strips with grooves onto the packaging. Such strips may warp and separate from the package they are adhered to when the product is on store shelves. In addition, because several different products need to be brought to the finishing process at one time, it is possible that say, an overproduction of paperboard packaging and under production of plastic audio strips for the packaging may result in a waste of paper board boxes.
The printing process of the invention described herein will address these concerns since only one step is necessary and since each package is being directly printed by the process there can be no underproduction or overproduction of products. The use of a separate piece of plastic to carry the grooves as well as adhesives to attach the plastic to the packaging are unnecessary and this results in further savings.
A process for producing printed, ink based, audio producing sound grooves is described. Deposits of ink are left on the desired packaging surface to produce a series of grooves, that are parallel or roughly parallel to one another that will reproduce sounds when a tool or fingernail is run over them in a direction or xe2x80x9cpathxe2x80x9d that is perpendicular to direction of the grooves. Various types of printing processes and the types of packages to be used in the invention are described below.
It is an object of the invention to create voice recordings on package labels and containers without using high pressure, force and heat in order to soften the substrate.
Another object is to print sound paths and audio strips onto substrates by use of conventional print equipment without use of barrier coatings often needed to assist inks and compounds from settling out and to thus create fine line audio and sound files on product packaging.
Another object is to provide a suitable printable sound layer coating by use of fine line ink compounds which can be printed with conventional equipment over graphic layers on standard plastic and paper board packaging as well as corrugated types of product packaging.
Another object is to provide an ink compound printed dual elongated audio message by laying down a series of printed fine audio grooves, in a sound path that may be printed in combinations of straight lines and curves.
Another object is to print with inks and coatings by use of conventional printing equipment a printed zig zag sound path to form an elongated audio message by use of angled paths. Another object is to print with inks and ink compounds, which use conventional printing equipment, sound producing paths on low pressure air tight plastic snack food and paper type bags.
Another object is to print with the use of inks and ink compounds audio strips and sound path recording plastic and paperboard as well as corrugated packaging as stand up and hanging displays used for promotions.
Another object is to print with the use of inks and ink compounds and conventional printing equipment a fold out sound producing page.
Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art once the invention is shown and described.